THE Coconut Bay Hotel in the south of the island will be a hive of activities as officials of the Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Education from the four Windward Islands converge on that facility tomorrow, where the joint planning meeting for the staging of this year’s Windward Islands School Games will take place.
The week-long event is scheduled for Saint Lucia from July 21st to 30th and information emanating from local organizers indicates that competition in the various disciplines – Athletics, Basketball (male and female), Football, Netball and Volleyball (male and female) will take place in the South of the Island.
The meeting is expected to review the 2017 WWIs Games, and hear reports from the 2018 Organizing Committee, which will include Games management Secretariat, accommodation, food, logistics, transportation, security, competition venue, medical, hospital, emergencies and how those will be managed.
The meeting will also discuss the participating team responsibilities and code of conduct.
One major area of concern for the organizers will be the dissemination of information on the games, in terms of final results, from the secretariat.
This was a total disaster last year and one hopes the organizers get it right by forwarding results on a timely basis to members of the local and overseas media representatives covering the games.
At present, the Phillip Marcellin Ground in Vieux Fort is closed to all sporting activities as rehabilitation works on the surface and other amenities are expected to begin soon, as the PMG is one of the venues hosting matches.
Unlike previous years where the teams were housed at schools in the north, this time around the athletes will be in a more spacious environment, as the Coconut Bay will serve as the Games Village, where all the participants will be housed. This is expected to enhance the entire image of this year’s Games.
The Windward Islands National Lotteries and CBN are the platinum sponsors for the Games, but how much each will be contributing is still uncertain.
In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the games were last held, each territorial National Lottery Authority contributed $50,000 and the host country was the recipient of $200,000 from Canadian Bank Note (CBN).
Reports indicate there have been ongoing in-house meetings at the Department of Youth Development and Sports, as Saint Lucia continues preparations to host the upcoming games.
